Qualified for the Job
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsayLucy. 8x05 post-ep oneshot. "She peeked inside and could see Lucy's little head of hair facing the floor with her hands on her lap."


**A/N: Hi guys, me again with the latest post-ep. This idea came to me earlier today and I was super mean to us all and hoped that we didn't get a legit DL scene so that I could build on the idea I already had for the post ep... turns out, my friend Mac gave me the perfect pitch. I hope you guys enjoy the story. It's very different I feel to usual post-eps, so we'll see. I really liked writing it though and thought it was pretty... inventive? But then again, it's 4am and I'm pretty sure I'm rambling right now so...**

**Huge thank you to everyone who reviewed (and read! I appreciate you guys too!) last post-ep. I know I say it every week, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing from you guys. The messages literally make my entire day. No joke. So, without further adieu, I'll thank you guys and be on my way to bed ;) ...** RandomTVFan30, MesserFamilyFan100, brendanakai, alexindigo, meggie, FoxPhile, Gigglesforcsi, Julia, CTI-Jenn, Montana05-Cowboy16-Forever07, jennifer32485, saderia, ILoveTheCubs, 18lzytwner, Daisy1966, dl-shipper34 and afrozenheart412.

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><p>Brushing her bangs from her eyes and arranging her purse on her shoulder, Lindsay took a deep breath as she punched in the security code to her daughter's pre-school; allowing her to gain access to the reception area. Entering quickly, Lindsay filled in her visitor details and grabbed a badge, pinning it to her slacks next to her shield. She knew that her daughter was fine and there was <em>nothing <em>to worry about; and chances were that whatever she was being called in for was something relatively small. Danny and she had been blessed with a very well behaved little girl and they'd experienced very little problems with their daughter. But even with that in mind, there was just an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that she just couldn't shift. She took a seat after making pleasant eye-contact with the administrative staff that alerted Lucy's class teacher of Lindsay's arrival. She exhaled heavily as she realised that she had at the very least another fifteen years of Parent-Teacher meetings. She just hoped she didn't feel this anxious for all of them.

"Mrs. Messer?"

"Hi there," Lindsay stood, offering her hand to Lucy's teacher. "I'm sorry I took so long in coming down; I couldn't get away from work and when I finally did, traffic was a nightmare."

"It's okay, I understand. Could Lucy's father not make it?" Miss. Talbot inquired politely, to which Lindsay replied with a shake of the head. While the pretty blonde was a real favourite with Lucy, Lindsay knew for a fact that the twenty something year old fully appreciated Danny's appearances every now and then. And not just on a professional level.

"He was tied up at work when I was leaving. It was either him or me." Lindsay apologised, with a lack of sincerity. "He really wanted to come but he told me to send his apologies."

"Not to worry, it's a shame though; we've not seen him for a while. We were actually discussing it earlier in the Teacher's lounge that he-"

_I'll bet you were talking about him. _Lindsay smirked to herself before wiping the grin from her face. When they'd finally decided on where to send Lucy to school, the small family had gone through a variety of induction nights, meet your teacher mornings, meet your teacher afternoons... and through every occurrence, Lindsay had been ready to bash her head against the wall with the young woman's incessant need to blatantly check her husband out. Initially, Lindsay had been slightly annoyed with the less than subtle stares and the necessity placed on having a fifteen minute conversation about something that had taken ten seconds with another family. After a few grumbles on her part, a laughing fit from Danny and an occasion of him making her _very_ aware that his eyes were anything but wandering... Lindsay realised it was more funny that anything. Here was a twenty something year old lusting over her husband who would be approaching forty in a few years. Putting it down as a compliment, Lindsay had now developed the thick skin that allowed her to overlook the ogling stares every time they found a spare second to pick their daughter up together from her pre-school.

And it wasn't even as if she had to worry about her husband's wandering eyes. The past month had proven to her that his eyes were transfixed on her, and only her. Not that she'd ever even doubted him. It was just... nice to have that reassurance that she still caught her husband's eye after four years of marriage.

"-and it's just lovely. Not to mention it must be very exciting. How is the promotion going for him?"

Realising she'd gotten lost in her thoughts, Lindsay inwardly cringed when she realised she had to provide an answer to the question she had supposed to have been paying attention to. Taking a deep breath, she could only hope for the best. "Honestly? He didn't feel like the position was for him; he felt like he'd lost touch with the real reason behind wanting to be a detective, or in this case a sergeant... He was stuck doing paperwork all day, every day. Not to mention he missed Lucy; it was eating him up inside that he was missing stuff with her. I think that's what ultimately brought him back to the lab. Seeing me is just an added bonus."

That earned her a smile from the friendly young woman. "That's very sweet, Lucy's a very lucky girl; you can tell she's got a lot of love at home which is always nice to see. It really reflects in her personality."

"Aw, well thank you," Lindsay smiled. "I'm sure that'll make Danny's day. She's his little princess, there's no doubting that."

Miss Talbot smiled before her face turned slightly more serious as they headed down the hallway together towards Lucy's pre-school classroom. "I just want you to be aware before we go in, there's been a few issues today with Lucy and she's considerably upset; don't be alarmed by her crying – she's not in trouble. It's more of a concern than anything else."

Lindsay's heart began pumping as she mentally listed all the possible 'issues' that could have occurred over the course of the school day. "It must be quite the issue if I've been called from work."

"I wanted to talk to you face-to-face over it; I hope you don't mind. To be honest, I'm kind of realising now that I should have called to make an appointment with you. I'm sor-"

"Oh no!" Lindsay interrupted the young teacher. "No, I'm sorry, that kind of came out wrong. I didn't mean it like that. I'm actually glad you called; I want to know if there's something wrong and obviously I want to work with you to make sure Lucy is on the right track with everything: behaviour, development... everything."

"Aw, brilliant. You have no idea how nice it is to hear that... it's always difficult when parents don't want to develop a rapport. Between you and me, it makes my job very difficult. The kids pick up on atmospheres between parents and I if there isn't a good relationship established from the beginning, you know?"

"Kids are intuitive like that." Lindsay smiled as she recognised Lucy's class door. She peeked inside and could see Lucy's little head of hair facing the floor with her hands on her lap. Instantly Lindsay's heart broke at the sight of her daughter so visibly upset, but then the disciplinarian within her kicked in; clearly whatever her daughter had done had warranted such a reaction from her teacher. Clearly Lucy needed some time to reflect on whatever she'd done wrong; which Lindsay figured she was getting right about now.

Miss Talbot pushed open the fire door and Lucy's little face whipped towards the door, her puffy, red eyes filling with more tears when she saw her mother in the doorway.

"Mommy, I sowwy."

Lindsay jutted her lip out as an automatic reaction and made her way towards her daughter and pulled out a tiny little chair, perching herself on it as best she could next to her daughter. "Have you said sorry to Miss Talbot, Lucy?"

Lucy nodded adamantly and looked to her teacher for affirmation.

"Yes, Lucy and I have had a conversation and we've had a good think about things, haven't we Lucy?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes, Miss Talbot."

Lindsay's eyes were then drawn to a ripped plush bunny rabbit sat on the table top. Next to it was a pencil with stuffing tangled around the easy-grip pencil. Lindsay glanced up to the teacher and raised her eyebrows; indicating her confusion and concern.

"Lucy," Miss Talbot broke the awkward silence between the three of them. "Could you do Miss Talbot a _huge _favour?"

Lucy nodded as she sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Uh-huh."

"Could you go and get a tissue to blow your nose with,_ then_..." she trailed off to add suspense to her sentence. "Could you go next door and help Mr. Johnson with his crayon packs for tomorrow. I told him I was sending a superstar helper to go and help him; do think you're up for the challenge?"

Lucy was on her feet before she could even offer an answer. "I do it! I do it!"

"I _can_ do it," Lindsay smiled softly, butting in to correct Lucy.

Sighing, Lucy repeated her mother's words before turning to face her bright-faced teacher. "I go now?"

"Yep, off you go. Straight there please, Miss Lucy. No detours, okay?"

"Okay!" Lucy nodded, obediently fetching herself a tissue and blowing her nose pathetically before heading off through the classroom like a pro.

Lindsay, whom had very much taken a back seat during the exchange, was significantly surprised with the way Lucy had been. As her mother, she only really saw Lucy at home, and if she was completely honest, had never really thought about what it would be like for her daughter in a school setting. She tried to make things as fun as possible with her daughter, out of guilt for the long hours she was expected to work at the lab... so to see Lucy with such regiment and obedience for someone else other than herself and Danny left her feeling quite proud that she'd managed to establish the necessity for respect for adults without realising.

"Lucy is definitely one of the more mature members of the class, especially considering she's a May baby. Does she have a lot of interaction at home?"

Glancing up from where she'd been staring, Lindsay blinked in the direction of Lucy's teacher. "Sorry, I was a million miles away then. Um, we try to make things educational now and then, but with everything that we do we sometimes just don't-"

"Mrs. Messer, I didn't mean that." Miss Talbot smiled. "I meant more along the lines of cuddles and conversations?"

"Oh," Lindsay blushed, "In that case, absolutely."

Miss Talbot smiled before her attention was drawn to the teddy laid on the desk. "Now, the reason I called you in today, was because earlier this morning Lucy was in the role play area of our classroom and... well, one of my parent helpers came across this." She gestured down to the teddy. "Lucy actually denied knowing anything about it when I asked her, but over lunch time, we managed to figure out that maybe she did know a little something about it. Does she often extend the truth at home?"

Lindsay furrowed her brow, "Little white lies, like 'have you brushed your teeth' or 'did you wash your hands' – but nothing to that extent. I wouldn't say she lies to us. I'm actually a little shocked about it."

"So was I." Miss Talbot agreed adamantly. "Like I said before, Lucy is one of my more mature children and it's behaviour I absolutely didn't expect from her so it came as a shock to me. I asked her why she did it, because initially I thought it was an accident and she was scared about the consequence she might have to face. I'm under the impression she also faces consequences at home."

Lindsay nodded. "Danny and I tried a few things but we've found that a cool down chair works the best. We called it the naughty chair for a while, but we found her getting really upset about the word naughty..." Lindsay took a breath. "People say my job is tough, being a Mom is so much more than I could have ever imagined. The most rewarding job in the world, but the scariest; I'm not the biggest fan of trial and error – especially with Lucy."

"But that's what makes you such an outstanding parent, Mrs. Messer." There was a brief pause before she added, "The both of you; it's obvious that you dedicate a lot of your time to your daughter and that reflects in her. If it helps any, we try not to use the word naughty, just because of the negative connotations... it's the latest fad. Next week they'll be telling us we can't say 'good girl' for some unknown reason."

Lindsay scrunched her face in disbelief for a moment before turning her attention back to the rabbit. "I'm guessing that you managed to find out the truth about the rabbit then?"

Miss Talbot nodded. "Lucy quietly told me this afternoon that she was performing an autopsy on the bunny. Obviously this sent my heart racing, until I put two and two together, but I still felt that it was important that you knew and saw the evidence as such for yourself... I'm assuming that perhaps she's come across some form of TV show or image that's given her this idea and while we encourage real life contexts, I just... I felt it was slightly..."

"I understand." Lindsay nodded. "And I appreciate you letting me know. We can replace the bunny if you need it-"

"Oh gosh no," The young woman shook her head. "I'm just going to take him home and quickly stitch him up. It's not a big deal... it was more the shock of hearing such a thing come from her mouth. I mean, she's clearly a very intelligent little girl and I feel that we need to keep our eye on that in order to put her on the right path with her learning... but, perhaps wait a few years before we sign her up for a medical degree."

Laughing, Lindsay smiled at the positive nature of the teacher. Although it probably shouldn't be, she could feel relief washing over her. She'd really feared that something terrible had happened, and while this wasn't acceptable and things would have to change. It was something that could be changed easily and it wasn't anything to worry about... as such.

"I'm going to speak with my husband tonight," Lindsay began. "We'll figure something out between us and I'll speak to Lucy about it."

"Thank you," Miss Talbot nodded, "And I hope you don't feel that I came down too hard on her, just with the sensitive nature of the subject, I felt that it was necessary that it was addressed straight away."

"No, absolutely – it's your job... speaking of, I better get back to mine. Is that everything here?"

"Oh gosh yes, don't let me keep you." Lucy's teacher smiled and stood. "I'll go and get Lucy back. Just two seconds..."

Lindsay watched as Miss Talbot quickly left the bright and colourful classroom. As soon as she was out of sight, Lindsay pulled out her phone and quickly typed a message to Danny telling him that they needed to talk, but things were okay and they had nothing to worry about... yet.

All she knew was that was going to be a delightful conversation...

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><p>The autumn breeze hit their faces as soon as they stepped through the pre-school's doors and Lindsay shivered with the small jacket she'd chosen to wear to work. Obviously not one of her better ideas; she mused to herself. Turning her attention down to her daughter, Lindsay squeezed her Lucy's hand affectionately and offered her a warm smile, making sure that she knew that Mommy wasn't mad.<p>

"We go home now, momma?" Lucy's little voice asked whimsically

"No baby," Lindsay sighed, shaking her head. "Mommy has to go back to work."

"But why?" Lucy whimpered. "I wants to sees you."

"I know baby," Lindsay sighed again as she stopped and dropped down to her daughter's level right by their car. "I want nothing more but to spend time with you... but Mommy can't. I have to go back to work and finish up. I only have to go to work for three more hours." Lindsay said by holding three fingers up. "And Daddy will be home in two hours." She added, folding a finger down. "So you get one whole hour with just Daddy. Won't that be exciting?"

"But I want you." Lucy sniffled as she stood in between Lindsay's thighs and nestled her head on Lindsay's shoulder.

"I know, sweetheart." Lindsay sighed heavily as she rubbed a hand up and down Lucy's back affectionately. "I know."

"I sowwy for today." Lucy whispered. "I didn't means to be bad."

"I know," Lindsay assured her daughter. "You weren't bad though Lucy, Miss Talbot was just a little concerned and she promised Mommy when I said that she could be your teacher she had to tell me things about you if you got sad, or if you made her sad. You were sad today, so she thought she needed to let me know; she was just keeping her promise, that's all. You're not in trouble."

"Rweally?" Lucy said, before promptly sticking her thumb into her mouth.

"Really, really." Lindsay smiled as she softly removed the thumb from Lucy's mouth. "Now, we've gotta head them up and move them out, okay? Because the quicker I get back to work, the quicker I get to come home to your beautiful face, okay?"

"Okay!" Lucy nodded as she held her arms up, indicating that she was ready for Lindsay to load her into her car seat.

With much less resistance than what she was used to, Lindsay strapped Lucy in and smiled brightly at her daughter before placing a kiss to the tip of her nose.

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><p>Settling down next to her husband, back in the analysis lab, Lindsay let out a huge sigh.<p>

"How did it go?" he asked her, glancing up from the microscope he'd been studying some samples with. "What did she say?"

"That she missed you." Lindsay quipped as she pulled some evidence towards and broke the security seal of the first bag. "But there's no surprise there."

"You're hilarious." He deadpanned as he casted a glance in her direction. "Seriously, what did she say?"

Lindsay exhaled heavily before turning to face Danny. "She performed an autopsy on a plush bunny rabbit today in the role play corner. Apparently she lied about it, but I don't know whether it was a lie, or whether she knew she was in trouble because she was being questioned."

"Wait, go back... Lucy performed a what?" Danny implored, unsure of whether he'd heard correctly.

"An autopsy." Lindsay sighed. "With a pencil no less."

Danny, at that point, lost his previous composure and couldn't help but laugh.

"Danny!" Lindsay cried. "This isn't supposed to be funny."

"I'm not sayin' it is, but come on Linds, Christ... she called you in for a meeting because Lucy opened up a toy rabbit with a pencil? I did worse to Louie's actual pet rabbit."

"Danny!" Lindsay cried. "Come on! That's information I didn't need to know."

"Okay, well I'm exaggerating a little, but it's a little bit of joke, don't you think babe?" He sighed. "You're in the middle of a massive homicide case and you're being called for a parent-teacher meeting because she murdered a rabbit? Let's bring her in for questioning right now..."

"Well, Danny that's what happens when you're a parent. You know, I thought you were going to take this seriously." Lindsay huffed. "Or at least not laugh in my face. Thanks a lot... jackass."

"Hey, name calling isn't allowed!" He growled playfully. "You know that I'm not laughing at you sweetheart, I'm trying to laugh with you. You've gotta see the funny side in this."

"It's not funny Danny though, because where has she gotten that from? Us! She's got that from us... we have too many adult conversations around her without thinking about what she picks up. I mean sometimes she sneaks up on us and it's just one of those things... but we really need to stop talking about those kind of things when she's around. Or speak in code at least. Anything. She's too little to be hearing things like that."

"Maybe we need to be a bit more careful," Danny agreed, "But you know what... big deal. She's clearly using that for a learning purpose Linds; it's not as if she's doing it maliciously. She was doing it in the role play area, right?"

"Yeah." Lindsay nodded. "And their theme this month is-"

"Veterinaries and pets." Danny finished her sentence. "What the hell does the teacher expect? Kids are like that... they just know things. They don't need to have detective parents to find shit like that out."

"Yeah, but there's no need to give her all of those experiences too soon, you know?"

"We're reading way too far into this, baby." He told her, pausing from his analysis of the blood that Mac had delegated to him and Lindsay. "Listen, we know she's a clever little thing, okay? We know that. We know that the college education she's gonna need is literally going to cost me this arm," he gestured to his right arm, "and this leg." He smirked as he pointed to his left leg, "But because I love her, I'll deal with it. Plus, she'll just have to be the favourite and she can go to college. The next baby we have can't be as clever. That's just how it's going to have to be."

"I'm glad you find this hilarious, dear." She scoffed at him. "Really, do continue on with your comedy act, it's great."

"Montana, listen to me." He sighed, as he reached out and softly rubbed her cheek to gain her attention. "The world isn't goin' to end, k? You think Lucy's thinking about this? No. She ain't. She doesn't give a crap. Her next biggest worry is whether we're having veggies for dinner, and whether she has to have her hair washed tonight. Yeah when you saw her earlier it might have been the biggest thing in the entire universe... but it passes. She's fine... and that teacher needs to get herself a hobby. Who sticks around after school for a parent-teacher conference anyway?"

Lindsay smirked. "Who spends seventeen hours at work staring at some blood splatter?"

Danny rolled his eyes and averted his gaze away from his wife's. "Alright, you made your point..." he trailed off.

Silence fell between them for a moment or two as they both settled back down into the work that they'd both been doing before Lindsay had disappeared for the parent-teacher conference.

"I love you." A small voice broke their silence and Lindsay turned slowly with a shy smile tugging at her lips. "I do," he reiterated. "And I'm sorry if you think I was laughing at you. I wasn't... I promise."

"I know." She said as she scooted her chair closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder for a brief moment, revelling in the feeling of closeness that she could share with him once again at work... and not for five minutes over the breakfast table. "I love you too."

"And don't worry about it okay? We're good parents and you don't have anything to worry about. She's gonna be scarred for life because she decided it'd be a good idea when she was three to autopsy a little toy bunny rabbit, trust me... we're doing good, you and me."

"You think?" Lindsay asked quietly. "Honestly?"

"Honestly? I couldn't think of two people better for the job."

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><p><strong>Okay folks, my eyes are closing and I literally feel like I'm going to die in about fifty seconds, so if there are any huge mistakes, pretend there aren't for me? Thank you! ;) hope you enjoyed this one. I know it was a little different, but thought it could still be fun :) I'd love to know and really appreciate to know what you though... so feel free to send them my way! :)<strong>

**Thanks for reading! **


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